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A 75-MPG Non-Hybrid Jaguar?

“That’s a gorgeous car. It’s absolutely stunning. It’s not a Jaguar, though. It’s a BMW. BMWs are gorgeous cars. Jaguars are not. But that car is gorgeous.”

Those are the words of my wife upon seeing the first image of the new Jaguar XE. I guess it’s been a while since she’s seen a Jaguar.

We owned a Jaguar X-Type, which we thoroughly enjoyed until the engine stopped working. The XE replaces the X-Type and obviously has an entirely different look than the old quad-headlight classic Jags—a look that, apparently, was inspired by German designers.

BMW and Jaguar might have similar looks, but what BMW doesn’t have in its 3 Series is 75 miles per gallon.

The XE does. Sorta.

The new Jaguar XE, with a body shell made of aluminum and a new, highly efficient range of gasoline and diesel 4-cylinder engines, is a critical car for the British company.

The X-Type was supposed to compete with BMW but fell well short, mostly because it was a thinly disguised Ford. The XE is all Jag and should put up a heck of a fight.

The Jaguar XE body uses over 75% aluminum content, which far exceeds any other car in its class. This gives us a body structure with unrivaled low weight: it’s light but also immensely strong with extremely high levels of torsional stiffness…. We’ve made sure our aluminum-intensive body structure exceeds all global safety standards without compromising on vehicle design or refinement.

The other upside to aluminum? Fuel economy.

Jaguar claims up to 75 miles per gallon, which, granted, is on the European cycle. In the U.S. that would translate to around 50-60 mpg.

By comparison, the 2014 BMW 335i has a combined fuel economy rating of 25 mpg.

We already know Jag has the looks down. If the XE truly can double the fuel economy of the BMW and come through with the performance and interior quality to match, BMW should start sweating.